


The Ebb of Life Continues

by AnimalDisco



Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: Abuse, Abusive Relationships, Chronic Pain, Depression, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Existential Crisis, Existentialism, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Parallel Universes, Slow Build, alternative universe, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-05
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:40:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 19,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23021872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnimalDisco/pseuds/AnimalDisco
Summary: Sad, that's what Elly felt. Sad and alone after ending an abusive relationship, and the only things that helped her feel less lonely were her cat and the Mystic Messenger app.What Elly had never expected, however, was for an unknown man to turn up in her flat and transport her to the world of the Mystic Messenger. Landing in Jihyun's flat, the two are forced together as they figure out why Elly's there, and who is attacking the RFA's app.
Relationships: V | Kim Jihyun & Main Character, V | Kim Jihyun/Main Character
Comments: 12
Kudos: 41





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, hi everyone who has clicked their way onto this story. I really hope not to disappoint you. I plan on doing my best to finish this story and am hoping having an unfinished story online will put pressure on me to finish it. MC is kinda MC, but also kinda original character. I named her Elly in this work, and I see her as my own character.
> 
> I should Point out, in case you haven't read the tags, that this is an alternative universe take on Mystic Messenger, so not Everything is going to align with things in the actual game (my lazy way of getting around the fact that I haven't finished all the routes yet, but still felt so inspired.)
> 
> I should point out that I may edit old chapters as I go along, but if I do, I'll post updates in future chapters about them, so you don't have to reread the whole thing. Same goes for characters and tags; they will be updated as I go. Also, I decided to keep the rating high now, as it will go up as the story continues.
> 
> Okay, that should be all for now. I hope you enjoy! :)

Getting away from that awful ex of hers was the hardest thing Elly had ever done. She still loved him, even though she knew he didn’t deserve it, and that she could never truly trust him again. He had lost her trust the moment he lay his hand on her. 

Going to work at the forensic psych ward felt strange to Elly. The patients here reminded her a lot of her ex and how he acted. She guessed that they were rather similar in ways. Everyone here had also committed crimes. That's why they ended up here, sentenced to forced psychiatric care for their illnesses. The difference was that Elly’s ex seemed to only have a personality disorder, and not an actual illness, whereas her patients often had both. 

Also, Elly had never reported her ex to the police. She didn’t feel like there was a point. There wasn’t any evidence lying around, her ex had made sure of that, and without evidence, a case wouldn’t go through. 

Elly smiled as she cared for and handed out the medications to the patients. She knew she shouldn’t compare them to her ex. They had committed the crimes they had due to severe mental illnesses; most often schizophrenia. With the meds they were taking now, they were a lot more stable, and less likely to act out rashly. 

It still took a long time for patients to progress in their treatment, with it often taking years before they were released. One of the patients Elly was in charge of had been at the clinic for longer than Elly had existed. That was pretty shocking to Elly when she first got to know that. 

Work slowly, but surely came to an end. She waved a cheery goodbye to the patients as she left the clinic. She always did that when she left, because when you had the same patients every day for years, you got to know one another, and it would be rude not to say goodbye. 

Getting into her car, she headed back to her flat in town. The town she lived in was a small, lazy, town in rural Sweden. Not much happened there, ever. It was the sort of town where everyone knew everyone. That's why when Elly and her ex had broken up, it didn’t take long for everyone to know about it. 

During the first week she had received so many people coming up to her, saying they were sorry to hear that the two of them had broken up, and that maybe if she talked to him, they could sort things out, and that the two of them had been such a cute couple. She just wanted to scream in their faces. They knew nothing of what had really happened between them, only the lies he had been spreading about her just being cold to him and not loving him anymore. People liked him, and people believe the lies well-liked people told them. 

Elly had done her best to just ignore it all, which had resulted in her more or less isolating herself when at home. There were only two things she had which kept her company at home, one of which was her little ginger kitten, Mousie. 

Mousie was high energy all the time she was awake, and it was almost impossible to stop Mousie from climbing the curtains when she was in her high energy mood. As soon as that energy ran out, however, Mousie would just fall fast asleep wherever she may be at that time. Once Elly had almost stepped on Mousie when she’d come home and Mousie had fallen asleep right inside the front door. Elly would often pick Mousie up when she’d fallen asleep to put her cat on her lap and pet her, making Mousie feel loved. Elly had picked Mousie up from a shelter when she’d broken up with her ex, and wanted Mousie to know she was in good hands and that she would always have a loving home from now onwards. 

The other thing Elly had to keep her company was a dating simulator game called Mystic Messenger. 

She liked the character in it. They didn’t hurt her like her ex had. They showed love and kindness towards her. She knew they weren’t real, and accepted that the reality was that real life wasn’t going to be like in the game. Sweet words weren’t going to magically make everything better. But it was an escape, one Elly greatly felt like she needed. 

Her favourite character in the game was one called V. V obviously wasn’t his real name; his real name was Jihyun Kim, but that wasn’t something he often told others. He liked to keep things to himself. Elly related to him. She wasn’t really fond of telling others what she was feeling either. And just like Elly, V had been in an abusive relationship.  
When Elly’s car pulled up by her building, she parked the car and got out of it. 

“Elly,” a familiar voice said from behind her. Elly felt her heart sink. 

“What do you want, Daniel?” Elly asked in a monotone voice. 

“Please, can we just talk? I miss you.” 

Elly felt her heart flutter at his words, but quickly pushed those feelings aside, reminding herself of why she left him.  
“Please just leave me alone,” Elly said curtly before continuing to her flat as quickly as she could walk. She thought he would go away, like he normally did, but today was different. 

Daniel quickened his pace to catch up with Elly, before grabbing her wrist to stop her in her tracks. 

“Let go of me, Daniel!” Elly said harshly to him, trying to pull her wrist out of his tight grip. He didn’t release her, he only tightened his grip, digging his fingers painfully into her wrist. 

Elly thought how it would be if V just magically turned up and helped her, but quickly pushed those thoughts away. This was reality, no one was going to help her out. Her only choice was to face everything on her own. 

Another car pulled into the parking lot. Daniel got down on his knees and proceeded to start begging Elly to take him back. He had released his death grip on her wrist, to replace it with gently holding her hand in his. 

“Please, Elly! I know I don’t deserve you, but I love you with all my heart. I’d be lost in the world without you. Whatever I’ve done wrong, I will do whatever I can to fix it. Just please, give me another chance!” 

The woman who got out of her car just watched them. Elly scowled down at Daniel, seething at him. 

“You always amaze me as to how low you will stoop to,” she spat at him, before finally managing to yank her hand away from him and go into her flat. Once inside, she quickly locked the door behind herself, before lowering her body to the floor. Elly clutched at her chest, feeling the all-too familiar pain return there. It always got worse after a stressful situation.

Taking some deep breaths, she tried to calm herself. This was getting ridiculous. She wanted to call the police, but she knew how manipulative and persuasive Daniel could be, and the fact that he was so well-liked within the community made her doubt anything would actually happen to him. 

Mousie approached Elly, giving a little chirpy meow as if to ask if Elly was okay. Elly smiled, stretching out her hand towards Mousie. Her cat nuzzled Elly’s hand, enjoying the contact, before suddenly she looked off into the living room. Mousie ran off, charging straight up the curtains. Elly shook her head, smiling at the sight, before getting to her feet and taking out her phone. She opened the Mystic Messenger app, going through the chats she had missed and sending messages where she could. It was a day where V wasn’t so active as she played Jaehee’s route, but oh well, He would come back eventually. And if she really wanted to, she could start a new save and do V’s route again. 

A bang in her bedroom startled Elly so badly, she dropped her phone. Without even picking it up, she went to investigate what had caused it. At first she thought it might have been her cat knocking something over, but when she thought about it, she doubted her cat could have made a noise that loud. 

Once in the bedroom, she saw a tall figure standing there. It was someone with short, finely kept brown hair, a suit, with a red bowtie and a slim figure. In his hands, he carried a clipboard and a pen. 

“Who are you? What are you doing in my flat?” Elly questioned, looking for clues as to how the intruder had gotten inside. Nothing looked out of place though. 

The stranger looked me deep into Elly’s eyes, and pointed his pen at her. 

“No time to explain. You have been chosen and you will come with me,” the man said briskly. 

There was another loud bang, and Elly suddenly felt like she was falling. It wouldn’t stop, everything around her was swirling into darkness and it made Elly feel like she was going to throw up, but she managed to keep her stomach in check. Suddenly, everything started swirling back into colours. 

As everything stopped moving, and her feet made contact with the ground, her whole body lunged forwards as if she had just been in a car crash. She toppled of balance and crashed to the ground. 

As the world went black around her, Elly could have sworn there was movement in front of her followed by murmured words.


	2. The Stranger on His Floor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, if there's anyone folowing this fic of mine, thank you, and welcome to the process that is me writing a story. If you notice anything that should be edited, please don't hesitate to let me know.

The loud ‘bang’ was all the warning Jihyun got before a stranger suddenly appeared in his flat, lurched forward and then collapsed to the floor. Jihyun quickly moved over to the still figure on his floor. 

“Hello? Are you alright?” Jihyun asked, not sure what the appropriate words in such a situation were. There was no answer. The woman just lay motionless on the floor in front of him. Jihyun stood there in shock, not sure what to do. Picking up the phone, he did the only thing he could think of; he called Seven. 

“Yooo, V, Wassup?” Seven cheerily said into the phone as he picked up. 

“A girl appeared at my place and collapsed,” Jihyun said bluntly. 

“Oh ho ho ho, such an effect you have on the ladies,” Seven joked. 

“I’m deadly serious.” 

“What the hell?” Seven answered, a serious tone coming into his voice. Seven knew that tone in Jihyun’s voice. He never used that tone unless he really was serious. “Is she alive?” 

“I don’t know,” Jihyun said, feeling incredibly stupid for not checking that to start with. 

“Check! Is she breathing? Does she have a pulse?” 

Jihyun sprung to action at his words. he crouched down over the still form of the girl, putting his hand above her mouth. He felt her breath ghost across the back of his hand, affirming she was indeed alive. 

“She’s alive. She’s breathing,” Jihyun said feeling relieved. 

“Take care of her. She’s your responsibility for now.” A blurry figure said to Jihyun from the corner of the room, startling him to fall on his butt, and drop the phone. He could hear Sevens voice asking him what was going on, but his attention was focused on the form in front of him. 

Jihyun cursed his eyesight for not allowing him to make out the form in front of him properly. It was all too blurry to make out the details properly. All he could tell was that the figure was tall, had dark brown hair, and he was wearing a pair of glasses and a suit, with a clipboard in hand. With a loud ‘bang!’ The figure was once again gone, leaving only Jihyun and the stranger on his floor. 

“V, if you don’t answer me now, I swear I will leak those photos of you that you told me to delete,” Jihyun hear Seven say. 

Jihyun picked up the phone, still in shock over what he’d just witnessed. “Luciel, please come over.” 

“I’m on my way,” Seven said before he hung up. 

Jihyun felt unsure what to do next. Should he move her to somewhere more comfortable? Put a blanket on her, perhaps? 

Before Jihyun could decide, the stranger on the floor started to move, slowly pushing herself up off the floor. She sat, with her back pressed against the wall, holding her head in her hands. 

“Are you okay?” Jihyun asked her. 

“Yeah, yeah I think so,” the stranger said, before lifting her gaze to Jihyun. Her eyes widened in shock as she caught sight of Jihyun’s face. She tried to move her body away further, but ended up just slamming her head into the wall. 

“Oww...” she muttered as she rubbed the spot that she hit. 

“Here,” Jihyun said, getting to his feet and stretching a hand out towards the stranger. “Let me help you to your feet.” 

Hesitantly, the stranger took his hand and got to her feet. 

“My name’s Jihyun,” Jihyun said to the short, blonde-haired figure in front of him. With his vision blurred, the stranger looked a fair bit like Rika, but not quite the same. The figure in front of him seemed to be slightly taller, not as thin, and her hair was shorter, falling only to her shoulders. 

“Elly, my name’s Elly,” the stranger said. Neither of them said anything more, still trying to take in the shock of the whole situation that had just unfurled. 

There was a knock at the door, which Jihyun excused himself to go and answer. 

When Jihyun opened the door, he saw Seven standing there. 

“Where’s this mysterious lady then?” Seven said, trying to peak into his friend’s flat. He caught a glimpse of the baffled looking lady who was leaning against one of the walls inside Jihyun’s flat. 

“Seven, come with me. I’ll tell you what happened,” Jihyun said, pulling his friend into a different part of the flat. 

Carefully and quietly Jihyun did his best to explain what had just happened. 

“Look, I know how crazy this all sounds, but please, Luciel, you’ve got to believe me,” Jihyun pleaded. 

Seven looked at him sceptically, wondering if his friend was trying to trick him like Seven normally did to Yoosung. 

“This all just sounds too crazy for me to believe. I mean, do you really expect me to believe she just appeared out of nowhere, collapsed, and then some other dude just disappeared in front of you?” 

Before Jihyun had even figured out how to answer Seven’s very valid question, a loud ‘bang’ just like the one from before rung through the flat. Seven and Jihyun jumped at the sound of it, before heading in the direction of it. 

There, in the living room, standing next to Elly was the same stranger from before. Seven could make out the details of the man more than his friend. He had dark brown hair that was neatly slicked back, wore round-framed glasses, and a smart-looking suit which framed his tall figure very well. His hand was outstretched to Jihyun’s stranger, handing over what looked like a phone. 

“You forgot this,” the man said to Elly before dropping the phone into her hands. The man turned his head slightly, glancing at Jihyun and Seven. 

“And you,” the man said, pointing his pen straight at Jihyun. Seven poked Jihyun, letting his friend know it was him he was referring to, “Do not forget she is in your care now. Do not let anything happen to her. I will return to explain in more detail later.” And with that, the man disappeared with a bang from in front of their eyes. 

“Okay, I think I believe you now,” Seven said dumbly, not being able to think up a quip like he normally could. 

Jihyun moved carefully forwards to the blurred figure he knew to be Elly. “Are you okay?” He asked her cautiously, giving her a comforting smile, which never quite met his eyes. 

“Huh? Oh, yes I am.” Elly felt her cheeks heat up. So, it hadn’t been all her imagination anyways. She really was standing in Jihyun’s flat, with Jihyun standing right in front of her, looking worried, his soft blue curls framing his features. His turquoise eyes seemed to be unfocused, and Elly could guess the reason as to why. 

“Do you know who that was?” Jihyun asked Elly. 

Elly shook her head, before realizing that Jihyun might have difficulties seeing the movement. “I’m as confused about all this as you are,” she added. 

Seven walked up to the two of them, interrupting. “Hello~” Seven said cheerily as he bowed slightly. “My name’s Seven.” 

“You’re name’s a number?” Elly questioned, looking at him sceptically. 

“Well, it’s not my real name, but if I told you my real name, I’d probably have to get rid of you,” Seven said, giving Elly a slightly scary smile. It was enough to get the reaction out of Elly that Seven had wanted. Her eyes opened in shock, her body involuntarily moving away from Seven. He chuckled slightly at the response. 

“Luciel, that’s enough,” Jihyun sighed at Seven. 

Seven turned around, pouting slightly at his friend. “You’re no fun. I wanted my name to be a secret,” Seven said grumpily, turning his attention back to Elly. 

“Okay, so maybe I won’t get rid of you. But do please call me Seven, that’s what most people call me.” 

Elly nodded, offering her hand out to Seven. “I’m Elly. It’s nice to meet you.” 

As they shook hands, Seven’s eyes widened with excitement. “You’re called Elly? Jihyun, she shares the same name as Cat Mom’s pet!” 

Elly gaped. Seven was right. That wasn’t a thought that had ever occurred to her before, but her and Elizabeth the 3rd shared the same name in Seven’s world. Jumin would never admit to it though. 

“Luciel, please be polite in front of our guest,” Jihyun said, trying to get Seven under somewhat control before his friend completely spiralled away into a world of his own. 

Seven calmed down slightly, before giving a quick apology for his behaviour to Elly. He turned around and whipped his phone out of his pocket. Jihyun saw Seven open up the messenger app they all used before sending a message there. 

When Seven pressed send, he wasn’t surprised to hear his own phone chime with the sound of a notification, but was surprised when Elly’s did the same. 

Seven noticed the sound also, turning his gaze in Elly’s direction once more. 

Elly took out her phone and saw that, yes, it was a notification from the Mystic Messenger app, although it had now been renamed to ‘RFA’ in her phone. Tentatively, she pressed on the notification, and was brought into the chatroom which Seven was in and had written about finding another Elly. 

“How the hell did you manage to download the app?” Seven said, all traces of the cheery and joking tone gone from his voice. 

“I- I-” Elly stammered, not sure how herself. What was going on? 

Jihyun pulled out his phone as well, opening the chatroom and holding the phone close to his face to see that, yes, sure enough, it said that someone called Elly was logged in. 

Seven moved to his friend’s side. “I’m going to go back home, there’s some things I need to check out,” Seven announced, wanting to get home to make sure their app hadn’t been hacked into. Seven leaned closer into Jihyun. “Don’t let her out of your sight until I say so,” Seven whispered before showing himself out. 

As the door to Jihyun’s flat swung shut behind Seven, Elly sank to the floor. She was strangely aware that her phone was receiving multiple notifications, but she didn’t care to read them. All she wanted was to understand what the hell had just happened. Why her? Why here? Why? 

As the thoughts thundered through her head, she was suddenly pulled out of them, but the familiar ‘bang’ sound that signalled the stranger who had brought her here had returned. 

Maybe now Elly and Jihyun would finally get some of their questions answered.


	3. No info

The man appeared right next to the two of them, this time carrying Mousie in his arms.

“You forgot this furry creature as well. Honestly, you should keep track of your things better,” the man said, handing the cat to Elly, who just gave him an incredulous look.

“Forgot? It wasn’t as if you gave me time to pack,” Elly quipped back.

The strange man ignored her, looking to both Jihyun and Elly before talking.

“So, I am guessing the two of you would like to know a bit better what is going on,” the man said, taking a pause.

“Please,” Jihyun said, politely encouraging him to continue.

“Well then, allow me to explain. I am the person in charge of your case. You may call me The Mediator. The two of you have been chosen to better get to know each other. Elly, I think you know why that is.” Elly blushed slightly at his words. “In Elly’s world you are a known game character,” The Mediator continued.

“I’m... A game character...?” Jihyun trailed off.

“In Elly’s world, yes. But not here. Here you are real. You see, Elly often played the game you were in and-” The Mediator was abruptly cut off by Elly slamming her hand over his mouth, Mousie yowling slightly at the sudden movement.

“Okay, I think that’s enough on that line of thought. Better question; why me? Of the seven billion people living on the planet; why me?” Elly asked before removing her hand from The Mediator’s face.

“Well, why not you? You needed an escape from your current life and seemed to have a personality that would fit well with him.” The Mediator pointed at Jihyun. “Some people win that one in a billion chance. Accept it, and enjoy your getaway.”

“How... did I get here?” Elly asked.

“It will take too long to explain all the details, since our technology is far superior to yours, so... magic,” The Mediator said the last word in a breathy, mysterious voice that really did not suit his harsh tone and appearance from earlier. Straightening himself once more, he cleared his throat.

“Next question,” he said in his stern tone once more.

The sound of Elly’s phone still dinging with messages made her think of another one. “The app, it used to be a game. It’s not anymore. Why?”

“Because a game is not something you will need in this world. You will, however need the RFA app.”

“Why?” Elly asked.

“It will become apparent as time passes on,” was the only thing The Mediator said.

“You said that I should be the one to take care of her; that she is my responsibility. Why me?” Jihyun said, finally asking a question of his own.

“That will also become apparent as time passes. Just know that you cannot decide not to do this. This is your mission.”

Elly sighed heavily, feeling like this guy was not as much help as she thought he would be. The Mediator’s stance suddenly changed, as if he was paying attention to someone speaking. He quickly wrote down some notes on his clipboard as Elly and Jihyun watched him.

“If you two do not have any more questions, I will be off.” The Mediator waited a bit, but when he only got silence in return, the familiar ‘bang’ was heard and he had disappeared. The two were left feeling rather disappointed over the lack of information The Mediator was willing to disclose.

As the notifications continued to come, Elly finally gave in, and logged once more into the chatroom of the RFA. There were so many messages from the members asking her who she is, and Seven had been telling them she was some acquaintance of V’s, though nothing more, thankfully. Elly doubted they would believe him even if he did tell the truth. This was all just nuts.

 **Elly:** Hello...?

 **Yoosung:** It speaks!

 **ZEN:** OMG

 **707:** She

 **707:** Not it

 **707:** I told you she was real. God7 knows everything!

 **Jaehee:** Identify yourself.

 **Elly:** My name’s Elly.

 **Jumin Han:** Yes, we see that, but why are you in our chatroom? This is an exclusive app for RFA members only.

V has logged into the chatroom

 **707:** V!

 **707:** Perfect timing!

 **707:** So, shall I block our intruder?

Elly’s eyes shot up to Jihyun’s turquoise ones, worried about what his answer might be. Jihyun stared back for a bit, before starting to type out his reply.

 **V:** No, not yet, at least

Elly felt herself relax somewhat at his words.

 **V:** I don’t believe she is a threat. I want some time to talk to her a bit before making any final decisions.

 **Jumin Han:** You do what you feel is best. I’ll support your decision.

 **Yoosung:** Are you sure this is okay, V?

 **V:** Yes, she’s here with me, so I will be able to get to know what kind of person she truly is. But if she feels suspicious, we will block her then.

 **707:** Alright then

 **ZEN:** I’ll trust you, V

 **Jaehee:** If that’s what you feel is best.

 **V:** If she does appear to be a good person, maybe we could invite her to fill the missing position.

 **707:** 😮

 **Yoosung:** But, that’s Rika’s position. What if she comes back?

Jihyun tensed slightly next to Elly.

 **Jaehee:** Yoosung...

 **ZEN:** Rika... she’s gone. Yoosung... you need to accept that.

 **Yoosung:** But a body was never found!

Jihyun’s stature had changed completely, shutting off all visible emotions.

 **Jaehee:** Yoosung, she’s gone. Please, think of V before saying such things. He was closer to her as well.

 **Yoosung:** It just feels like she’s still in this world, and I don’t want to give up hope.

 **ZEN:** Yoosung...

 **V:** I need to go now. There’s some stuff I need to take care of. I’ll talk to everyone later.

 **Jumin Han:** Take care

 **707:** See ya!

 **ZEN:** 😙

 **Yoosung:** See you, V

V has logged out of the chatroom

 **Elly:** I’m sorry I can’t stay longer and explain more details. I think I need to go now as well. I promise to come back and talk more later.

 **Jumin Han:** We look forward to getting a better understanding on the situation.

Elly has logged out of the chatroom

It felt strange to Elly to leave the chatroom before everyone else had gone, but now it wasn’t a game anymore. It wasn’t as if she needed to wait for the save button to appear anymore. Looking up, she saw Jihyun head into the kitchen. Tentatively, she followed him.

“Would you like something to drink?” Jihyun asked as he busied himself by the counter, routing through the cupboards.

“A cup of tea, if you have it?” Elly answered.

Jihyun rooted through his cupboard a bit more before pulling out a box of tea bags. Turning the kettle on, he dug out a pack of instant coffee for himself.

“Do you take milk and sugar?” he asked as the kettle finished boiling.

“Both, please,” Elly replied.

Jihyun finished preparing the drinks for the two of them, before handing Elly her cup of tea. The two of them sat down at the kitchen table, as the slowly sipped their drinks. Jihyun’s gaze was directed out the window, looking at the night sky that had slowly crept up on them. The corners of his mouth turned upwards slightly as he stared at the stars. Elly focused her gaze on the liquid in her cup, swirling it around now and then to watch it move.

The two of them sat in the silence for a while, just enjoying the quiet for a while. It was Jihyun who broke the silence, putting his cup down on the table in front of him.

“I’m not sure if I can fully trust you yet, I hope you understand. I will like to get to know you more as time passes. Tomorrow, I will help you find a place to stay, but tonight you may stay here. It's getting pretty late already.”

Elly nodded. “Thank you.”

“I don’t have a spare bedroom, so if you’re okay with it, you can take my room for now.”

Elly’s eyes shot up to Jihyun. “No, no, it’s fine. I can take the sofa.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, I’m already being such a burden by staying here. I’d feel worse if I took your room as well.”

Jihyun leaned back at her words. “If that’s your wish. I’ll get you some pillows and blankets in that case.”

Jihyun got up to go and fetch the items, just as Mousie appeared, making sure she was perfectly in Jihyun’s way, swirling her body around his feet.

“And I’ll see if I still have a few supplies for your cat as well,” Jihyun added, bending down to pick Mousie up. “What’s her name?” He asked, scratching Mousie behind her ear, which Mousie greatly appreciated, leaning her head deeply into the touch.

Elly smiled, seeing the two get along so well. “Mousie.”

A laughing smile spread across Jihyun’s face, “Mousie. She’s sweet.”

Handing Elly her cat back, Jihyun went off to fetch the supplies. He placed the bedding on the sofa, and then set up the necessary items for Mousie.

“I didn’t know you used to have a cat,” Elly lied. She knew full well that Jumin’s cat, Elizabeth the 3rd had originally belonged to Jihyun. But really, she didn’t want to make him feel uncomfortable with her knowing everything about his life when he knew nothing.

“It was a few years ago now. A friend, Jumin who you saw in the chatroom, and who Luciel referred to as ‘Cat Mom’, now owns her. I kept the things because I used to take care of Elizabeth when Jumin went away on business trips.”

“Used to?”

“Yeah, nowadays I’m rather busy most of the time, and he seems to trust Jaehee with Elizabeth, so it’s probably best that she takes care of her. I still keep the stuff though, just in case.”

Elly nodded her head understandingly.

“It’s getting late, why don’t you do to sleep for the day now, so you can be well rested for tomorrow?”

“That’s a good idea,” Elly agreed. She pulled up one of the blankets from the pile Jihyun had brought her, and curled it around her body, lying down on the sofa.

“I’m sorry about all of this,” Elly said quietly, just as Jihyun was leaving.

“Don’t be. I doubt all of this is your fault. Tomorrow, maybe we can talk some more and try and explain to each other our sides a bit better,” Jihyun replied. He flicked the light switch, casting the room into darkness. “Goodnight, Elly. Sleep well.”

“Yeah, let’s. Goodnight, Jihyun,” Elly replied, just as Mousie jumped up on top of her, and curled up on her lap.

Carefully, Jihyun closed the door to the living room, before pulling out his phone, and dialling Seven’s number.

“V! Hey, I was just about to call you.”

“So, have you found something?” Jihyun questioned.

“That’s just it. There's nothing. Not a single trace of her anywhere, and you know me. I’m good. I should be able to find something of her. But there's nothing. It’s like she didn’t even exist until today.”

“Odd...” Jihyun said, thinking through the day’s events. Maybe there could be some truth to what he was seeing after all.

“Do you think she could be from some other dimension?” Seven joked.

“Maybe...” Jihyun pondered, missing the joking tone in Seven’s voice entirely.

“What?!?! Are you serious????” Seven gawked.

Jihyun laughed slightly, in an attempt to throw Seven off his slip of the tongue. “I highly doubt it. Thank you for all your hard for today, Luciel. Please don’t give up the search just yet. If you find more info, please let me know.”

“Will do,” Seven said before the two hung up.

Holding the phone close to his chest, Jihyun pondered everything that had happened today, wondering what it all could mean. Was this God’s way of sending him a sign? Would this help him on his path to save Rika? Or was he just truly not a real person? Was he just made up, and only here now because of some game? Did anything here really matter?

Jihyun shuddered at the thought, and tried to convince himself that he was real, because he was here now. It only half worked as he felt the existential fear well up inside him.

He went to his bedroom, the thoughts running through his head, trying to make sense of everything that had happened with few results.


	4. Talk to Strangers

When the morning came, Elly awoke to feeling her body being achier than normal. It was probably from sleeping on the sofa all night. She sat up and stretched, hoping it would relieve some of her pain. It didn’t, but at least she’d tried. 

Elly threw the covers back, and got to her feet, feeling the dull ache that the pressure of standing caused. Mentally, she cursed her ex for doing this to her. As she took a few stiff steps, the pain in her feet started to fade away, allowing her to walk more normally once more. 

She made her way into the kitchen, and started to prepare a pot of coffee. She heard shuffling and the sound of a door opening and closing further into the flat. It didn’t take long before Jihyun emerged into the kitchen. 

“Good morning,” Jihyun said. 

“Morning,” Elly replied. “I was just making some coffee. Would you like some as well?” 

“Please,” Jihyun said with a smile. Elly got out two cups from the cupboard and poured coffee into them before sitting down at the table with Jihyun. 

“Did you sleep well?” Jihyun asked Elly as she took a sip of her coffee. 

Elly nodded. “Fine,” she lied, not wanting to go into all the details. “What about you?” 

“Yeah, I slept well,” he also lied, not wanting to admit that he had constantly woken up during the night with nightmares about Rika. 

“So, I will finally be out of your hair today. Yet again, I am really sorry for the inconvenience I’ve caused.” 

“Please, don’t worry about it. It's not like you had much choice from what I gather. I’ll just get Luciel to fix you the necessary documentation and then we’ll find you somewhere else to stay. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll go and call him now,” Jihyun said, taking a final sip of his coffee before getting to his feet and leaving the room. Elly gave him one last smile before he left. 

Pulling out his phone, Jihyun dialled the number of his friend quickly. 

“Hello, it’s your favourite hacker speaking~” Seven said in a cheery tone of voice. 

“Luciel, how has your background research on Elly been going?” 

“Ah, actually, I have found one detail that was of interest. You know how each electronic device leaves its own special trace, right? Well, these traces follow a certain pattern, with variating patterns that identify them as unique. But Elly’s trace is completely different from any trace I’ve ever seen before. It's totally random! Really, I do think the story of her coming from another universe, even though it does sound totally crazy, might actually be true.” 

Jihyun paused for a minute, taking the information in. “I’m guessing that the trace didn’t exist until yesterday either?” 

“Nope! Yesterday, suddenly out of the blue was when it turned up for the first time.” 

“Thanks for all your hard work. If it’s not too much trouble, I have just one more job for you. Could you please help fix some ID for Elly? Since she doesn’t appear from this world, I doubt she has anything to prove her identity here.” 

“But, V,” Seven started sarcastically, “Wouldn’t that be illegal? Do you think I would do such a criminal thing?” 

“You’ve already fixed it, haven’t you?” 

“...yeah,” Seven admitted. “Huh?! What?! Sorry, I need to go! It looks like our RFA server is being hacked!” 

“Hacked?!” Jihyun said shocked. “Yes, of course. I’ll call you later then,” Jihyun said before Seven hung up to deal with the situation. 

Whilst Jihyun had been talking to Luciel, Elly had pulled out her phone and logged onto the RFA app. As soon as she was on, the background changed suddenly to a string of numbers, letters and symbols, startling Elly slightly. 

Unknown has entered the chatroom 

**Unknown:** Why, hello there 

**Unknown:** You’re new 

**Unknown:** Guess this makes my job a bit easier 

**Unknown:** Are you 

**Unknown:** currently with V, perhaps? 

**Unknown:** Don’t worry. You won’t have to stay with him for long 

**Unknown:** We’ll come to take you to paradise soon enough 

**Unknown:** Just don’t get too tangled up in their sweet lies until then 

**Unknown:** I’ll see you soon, Elly. 

Unknown has left the chatroom 

Elly didn’t even have a chance to write a response before he was gone. Not like it would have mattered. She felt so frozen from the shock of it all, she doubted she would have been able to formulate a response anyway. 

She was finally brought out of her daze when Jihyun came back into the room. 

“Elly, are you alright?” Jihyun asked, seeing her blank stare. Elly turned her head to focus her gaze on Jihyun. Silently, she handed her phone over to him. 

Lifting it to his face, he squinted, just about able to read the messages there. He felt his blood run cold as he saw what was written there. ‘ _So, they had started their move on the RFA already, then?’_ Jihyun thought to himself, handing Elly her phone back. 

“That’s pretty disturbing,” Jihyun stated. Taking a seat at the table, he sat down and pondered the situation, trying to think what to do next. 

“Elly, I’m thinking of officially asking you to join the RFA, and hosting a charity party with us. I’ll explain more details in a bit, but will you go along with me if I officially ask you to join in the chatroom with the others?” 

Elly felt taken aback by the suddenness of the proposal. Regaining her composure, she nodded at Jihyun. “Yeah, sure.” 

“Alright then,” Jihyun said, bringing up his phone and logging into the messenger. 

V has entered the chatroom 

**707** : ARGH! 

**707** : This hacker 

**707** : He’s good 

**707** : I can’t seem to trace him. 

**707** : Oh! 

**707** : Hey! 

**707** : V! 

**707** : Good morning! 

**Jaehee** : Good morning, V 

**V** : Jaehee, Luciel, good morning. 

**V** : I have something I would like to tell everyone regarding Elly, but not everyone’s here right now. 

**707** : Hang on, I’ll call Yoosung and Zen and tell them to enter the chat. 

**Jaehee** : I’ll inform Mr. Han. 

Elly has entered the chatroom 

**V** : Elly, I’m glad you’re here 

**Elly** : Of course. 

Yoosung has entered the chatroom 

Jumin has entered the chatroom 

ZEN has entered the chatroom 

**707** : Looks like that’s everyone. 

**Jumin Han** : Hello, V. So, there was something you wanted to tell us? 

**V** : Yes, I’ve been thinking about this ever since yesterday evening, and have come to the conclusion that I would like to officially ask Elly to join the RFA with us. 

**ZEN** : What?! 

**ZEN** : So suddenly 

**707** : Are you sure she can be trusted?   


**V** : From the time I’ve spent with her so far, nothing seems unusual about her. I think it’ll be a good thing for us. 

**Jumin Han** : I’ll trust your decision, V. As always 

**Yoosung** : So, does this mean we will be hosting parties again? 

**V** : Yes. I’m hoping we’ll be able to host one soon. 

**ZEN** : That’ll be nice. It’s been a while since we talked about hosting a party. 

**Yoosung** : Yeah, and carrying on Rika’s work is important. 

**Jaehee** : What about the hacking attack? Surely, it’s no coincidence that happened just as Elly arrived. 

**V** : At this current point in time I have no reason to suspect Elly was linked to it. 

**Elly** : A hacker? Was the server hacked? 

**707** : Yeah 

**707** : I’ve been working on securing the server and tracing the hacker 

**707** : but 

**707** : Argh! 

**707** : I can’t seem to trace him. This guy’s good 

**Elly** : Oh my goodness, that’s awful! 

**Elly** : Wait, I had some strange messages appear in the chatroom just a little while ago from someone called ‘Unknown,’ you don’t think that was the hacker, do you?   


**707** : ! 

**707** : !! 

**707** :!!! 

**707** : You talked to the hacker?! 

**707** : omg 

**707** : Omg! 

**707** : OMG!!!! 

**ZEN** : Seven, for the love of God, PLEASE stop spamming the chatroom 

**Jaehee** : Thank you, Zen 

**Elly** : Yeah, he was kinda creepy and didn’t say much before he left. 

**Yoosung** : So scary T-T 

**707** : I need to get back to work on this. If you’ll excuse me 

**V** : Luciel, one thing before you leave. Please register Elly as an official member when you get the chance. 

**707** : Will do! 

707 has left the chatroom 

**Yoosung** : So, we’ll be hosting parties again soon. Do you know when? 

**V** : Not yet, but I hope to have a date for it soon. 

**Elly** : Thank you for accepting me into the RFA. I’ll do my best to help in any way I can. 

**V** : Yes, thank you, Elly. 

**Jaehee** : If you have any questions about the RFA, I’ll be glad to help you out 

**Elly** : Thank you for your support. 

**Jaehee** : ^^ 

**V** : I need to get going now. There are things I need to take care of today. Elly, will you join me? 

**Elly** : Sure. I’ll talk to you guys later ^^ 

**Jumin Han** : Goodbye you two 

**ZEN** : Have a nice day~ 

**Yoosung** : See ya! 

**Jaehee** : Take care 

V has left the chatroom 

Elly has left the chatroom 

Elly looked up to Jihyun. “Are you sure it’ll be okay for me to join the RFA? I mean, you do barely know me.” 

JIhyun smiled at her. “It’ll be fine. You really do seem like a good person, and it’ll be good for everyone to host a party once more.” Jihyun got up to leave the room when Elly called out to him. 

“Hey, um, thank you. For trusting me, I mean. I promise I won’t betray it. And I'll do my absolute best when it comes to the party.” 

Jihyun gave her a warm smile in response. “I’m sure you will. You know, there’s something about you. I can’t quite place it...” 

The expression on Elly’s face revealed how startled she was by his words. 

“Ah, ignore me. I don’t know what I’m saying,” Jihyun said hastily with a blush starting to form on his cheeks, before retreating back to his room, leaving Elly on her own in the kitchen. 

When he came back a little while later, he was wearing fresh clothes, and carrying another set of clothes in his arms. 

“Here, I thought you might want to get changed. I hope these fit.” Jihyun handed the clothes over to Elly, who hesitantly took them. 

“Oh, thanks,” Elly said, looking down at the clothes in her hands. It was her turn for her cheeks to go red. Was she really going to wear Jihyun’s clothes? She didn’t want to be a bother like this, but when she thought of the alternative; wearing the same clothes that she had worn yesterday, and also slept in, that settled it for her. 

Excusing herself to the bathroom, Elly went to get changed. As she pulled on the clean clothes, she was relieved to find they did actually fit her, even if the legs and sleeves were a bit long. Curling them up sorted out that problem though. 

Once she stepped out of the bathroom, she saw that Jihyun was waiting for her. 

“Did they fit?” He asked her. 

“Well enough,” she replied. “So, we were going to find me an alternative place to stay now, yeah?” 

“Actually, about that,” Jihyun hesitated, “considering the messages you got today, it might not be a good idea for you to be alone. If you’re alright with it, it might be best for you to stay here with me for a bit longer.” Jihyun felt his protective instincts rise within him. “Let’s go out and get you some of your own clothes at least.” 

Elly nodded at him before they headed out of the flat. 


	5. Going Out is Exhausting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would you look at that; an update! Finally! I don't know if there is anyone actually following this story, but if there is, this thank you goes out to you for being here. I told you I wouldn't abandon this story in the beginning, and I meant it. Now it's almost 5AM and I really just want to post something, so I haven't read this through. If there are any errors, I'm so sorry! Please forgive! 
> 
> Now, back to the story!

When the two of them went out,  Jihyun had asked for extra security to accompany them from  Jumin .  Jumin had agreed readily, saying he had already freed up some security to follow them in the background.  Jihyun knew it was only partially for the same reason as why  Jihyun had requested it. Even though  Jumin had told his friend that he trusted his decision that Elly was not a threat at present, he knew his friend liked to take things cautiously and prepare for worst case scenarios.  Jihyun couldn’t help but smile fondly at the thought of his friend. 

At the shop, Elly leisurely flicked through the racks of clothing, pulling out some items here and there that caught her eye. Over the rack, a bit further away, she saw  Jihyun sitting on a seat he’d found, wearing his sunglasses, and resting his cane between his legs. He’d explained to Elly on the way that he could see somewhat, but it wasn’t good enough when out in public to be able to react to all the situations there. This just made things easier, because walking with a cane and sunglasses made it obvious to people that he couldn’t see them properly.

Although  Elly couldn’t see his eyes, something about him felt distant, like he was somewhere else, lost in his thoughts.

Pulling off a couple more items off the rack, she turned around and tried on the things she’d found. None of them fit. Sighing, she remembered that Korean sizes were smaller than western ones. Heading back out of the changing room, she saw standing by the rack she had been perusing was The Mediator. With an  exasperated sigh, she walked over to him.

“These might fit you better,” The Mediator said, handing over identical clothes to the ones Elly had just tried on. The only difference was these looked a bit bigger and, indeed, more likely to fit her. 

Elly took the clothes from him wordlessly, eyes still glancing to  Jihyun to see if he had noticed who was with them. He hadn’t. The Mediator followed my gaze a knowing smile spreading across his face.

“Interrupting your date, am I?” The Mediator said, smirking at me. Elly didn’t dignify his question with a response. She only kept her gaze focused on  Jihyun . 

He must have felt her gaze, because his head turned in their direction. His mouth opened slightly in surprise as he realised who it must be standing next to Elly. Getting up, he headed over to join the two of them.

“It’s you again,”  Jihyun said sounding stunned. “Why are you here again?”

“I tend to drop by now and then. See how things are going. So, how far have the two of you  gotte \- OW!” He was cut off by Elly pinching his arm harshly.  JIhyun looked on upon the two of them, his head cocked slightly to the side, not sure what The Mediator was talking about.

“Actually, can I have a word with you in private?”  Jihyun asked The Mediator. Intrigued, The Mediator agreed. 

“We’ll be back soon,”  Jihyun said to Elly, handing over his card to her so she could continue shopping without him. “You just find some clothes that you want in the meantime.”

Jihyun and The Mediator walked away to find some privacy, leaving Elly behind, hoping that The Mediator wouldn’t let slip too much info on how much she knew about Jihyun.

As  The Mediator and  Jihyun walked, there was silence.  Jihyun wasn’t sure how to start the conversation, but was sure it was one that they needed to have. Figuring it was better to just rip the band-aid off than to just continue in silence,  Jihyun opened his mouth. 

“So, all this around us. It’s all from a game?”   


“Yep.”

“Are there more ‘game worlds’ like this one out there?” 

“There are.”

“Is that why you had to leave as soon as you arrived the first time you were here? Because you needed to go to another game world?”

“Yes, actually. Things there were getting to a critical stage and it required my presence,” The Mediator explained. 

“Did something dangerous happen?” 

The Mediator halted in his footsteps momentarily. “Ah, that is not something you need to worry about.” 

Jihyun knew better than to press the matter when judging from The Mediator’s rigid body language it wasn’t something he was overly keen to go into. 

“All these worlds, they’re based on games that exist in Elly’s world, aren’t they?”

“Your point?”

“If these places are just games, if this place is just a game with characters, am I, or any of us from these worlds really real?”

“Like I told you previously, here you are real.”   


“But not if I go to Elly’s world? Would it even be possible for me to go there?”

The Mediator didn’t answer which told  Jihyun more than he needed to know.

“ Haa ... I get it. Elly is truly the only one of us that is real here, and her world is the proper world.”  Jihyun could feel all the reality he had known crumble around him. What was worth anything anyway? What was the point? Would anything he did really make a difference? What he’d done in life, did it truly matter? The only thing that really felt like it mattered was Elly because she really had just been dragged into this entire mess against her will. She seemed so innocent.

“Can... Can she be hurt here in this world?” 

“...Yes, she can. Just like anyone else here would be hurt.”

The words steeled his resolve further. He needed to put an end to Rika’s plans, and he needed to do it quickly before Elly was dragged into the chaos any further. He needed to protect her. 

Focusing on his feet, he tried to formulate his next plan of action, knowing he would have to go back to Mint Eye sooner rather than later, and that it would be best to leave Elly behind. Maybe  Jumin could help him out with making sure she was safe. Her safety was the most important thing here, even if it meant sacrificing himself

“Hey,” The Mediator said, touching his arm gently in a way of bringing him back to the conversation. “I know there’s nothing I can say to convince you that you are real, but just remember that you are real to Elly. You might not understand it yet, or understand how, but she cares for you.”

“No, she doesn’t. She cares for the character me she knows from the game she plays. Not the real me.”

A snort. Then a chuckle. Then full on laughter was coming from The Mediator, making  Jihyun’s brow furrow in confusion. 

“You know, for someone who was seriously doubting their own reality mere seconds ago, you sound very sure that you are real and different from the character Elly knows. Maybe there is some truth to it. Maybe you are more really than you initially thought.” and with that and a bang, The Mediator had disappeared. 

Jihyun looked around the crowded shopping centre, trying to see everyone’s reaction to the loud noise coupled with the fact that someone had disappeared from right in front of their eyes. No one seemed to notice though. Odd.

With nothing else to do,  Jihyun slowly made his way back to the Shop he had left Elly in. 

***

Shopping went well.  Jihyun happily watched Elly pick out the things she needed from the shops. He noticed she only really picked out the essentials and kept her costs to a minimum. He wished she wouldn’t.  Jihyun rarely had things he wanted to spend his money on nowadays anyway, and even if he did, it wasn’t like it really mattered. Not when nothing here felt real anymore. 

As the two of them stumbled into the apartment with the bags in hand, Elly sat herself on the floor, exhausted from their outing. It wasn’t often she would go out for such long periods of time, and especially not around so many people. The stress of it was often enough to set  of the pain problems she had in her body, and today was no exception.

Putting one hand over her chest where it was particularly painful, she tried to  will her body to relax. It wasn’t really working. Frustrated over the fact she didn’t have her medication with her at a time like this, she tipped her head back against the wall, and stared at the ceiling. 

“Are you okay?”  Jihyun asked in a calm, but worried tone. 

“Yeah, I will be,” Elly replied, hoping this would go away soon. 

“What’s wrong? Is there anything I can do for you?”  Jihyun sounded like he was genuinely worried for Elly instead of just being polite. It was something that made Elly feel bad. She didn’t want to be the cause of more problems for  Jihyun ; he was already going through more than enough. 

Looking into  Jihyun’s round, teal eyes, she could see that he wasn’t going to settle for anything other than an honest answer. 

“Eh, my body just hurts. It's fine. It happens now and then. It's nothing serious.” Elly tried to wave him away, but he just looked more panicked. 

“You’re in pain?! Are you really sure you’re okay? We can go to the hospital and have you checked, if you like.” His caring nature was endearing.

“It’s okay, really. There isn’t anything a hospital can do to help anyways. It's a permanent condition that just flares up now and then. Rest and painkillers are what normally help when it gets like this.”

JIhyun immediately set off for the bathroom, rummaging around in the cabinet there, before coming back holding a small cardboard package. 

“Here, I have some painkillers. I’ll get you some water to take them with as well.”

As he went off to the kitchen to get Elly a glass of water, Elly flipped the packaging over to see what it was. Paracetamol. Smiling at the thoughtfulness of  Jihyun , she realised this was probably not going to do much nowadays to help alleviate her pain. Not after having taking it regularly for 7 years. Nevertheless, it wouldn’t hurt to give it a try, at least.  So when  Jihyun came back and offered her a glass of water, she accepted it, and drank it along with two of the pills she took out of the packet. 

“Right, and now rest. And this time you are to take my bed, and I will not accept no as an answer. As comfortable as the sofa may be to sit on, I know for a fact it’s not that comfortable to lie down on.”

Jihyun helped Elly back onto her feet before guiding her towards the bedroom, and placing her carefully on the bed. 

“What about you? What will you do?” Elly asked after she tucked herself into the soft duvet, the smell of soft cinnamon and green apples from  Jihyun on the bedding feeling oddly comforting. 

“There’s some stuff I need to attend to, so I won’t go to sleep for a while anyways. Don’t worry about me and just take care of yourself.”

Nodding softly, Elly allowed her eyes to close, and her breathing to slow, trying to rid herself from as much tension as she could from the day. 

Just as  Jihyun was about to leave the room, Elly’s quiet voice caught his attention. “Hey, Jihyun?”

“Yes?” He said, turning around to once more give her all his attention. 

“We should figure out what we should say to the other members of the RFA. About me, I mean. I doubt they would believe us if we actually tried to tell them the truth.”

“Yeah, I think you’re right. Don’t worry.  Luciel and I will figure something out. You just focus on resting for now.” And with that and a smile,  Jihyun carefully closed the door to the bedroom behind him, leaving Elly alone in his room. 


	6. An Explanation

After having closed the door to his room quietly,  Jihyun made his way into the living room. There wasn’t really anywhere else he could go to in his small flat, with only the kitchen and the bathroom as other alternatives.

Bending over by the coffee table,  Jihyun pulled out a drawer there that contained his laptop. Seven had helped set it up for him when he’d gotten it, giving him access to satellite images from anywhere in the world. Seven had known it was for a mission of sorts, but  Jihyun had purposefully been vague on the details. 

Starting the laptop, he opened it up to the application that allowed him to view the satellite images. It was almost as if his fingers acted without being told what to do as he zoomed in on the place he knew all too well, but wished he knew not at all; Mint Eye’s headquarters.

Following the progress of the last few days, he could see an increase in people’s presence and activity. It looked like things were finally gearing up a notch over there, probably spurred on by Elly’s presence in the RFA and the fact that  Jihyun had confirmed that they would be holding a party.

Jihyun sucked in a deep, shuddering breath, cursing himself for letting things spiral out of control like this, for causing other people to end up in dangerous situations. If only he would have known how bad Rika’s condition was to start with, if only he had done something differently. No, there was no use dwelling on that now. What he had to do was solve the situation without getting anyone else getting hurt, even if it meant sacrificing himself. 

Now that the hacker seemed to have targeted themselves in on Elly, she was definitely no longer safe.  Jihyun needed to sort this out as soon as possible and put an end to things. This hacker,  Jihyun was sure they were Rika’s doing; why else would they be after the RFA like this? He himself still hadn’t figured out who they were, so that meant they had appeared in the last month or so, since  Jihyun hadn’t heard anything about it, and it had been about a month since he had last been to Mint Eye’s headquarters. 

This decided things;  Jihyun knew he would have to go back to Mint Eye sooner rather than later to see what they were up to there. If they were making their move on the RFA now, he would need to be there and try and stop them. What they were up to would surely put everyone in danger; including Elly. The only problem that remained now was ensuring Elly’s safety even when he left, and making sure she would stay behind and not follow him into that dangerous place. Hopefully, she didn’t know where Mint Eye’s headquarters were, but  Jihyun wasn’t sure enough to take the risk that she might follow him.

Sighing, he closed his laptop, putting it to the side on the coffee table.  Jihyun pondered for a bit, not sure what to do, when he realised  Mousie hadn’t been fed today. Getting up, he went to the kitchen to put down some of the food he and Elly had picked up from the convenience store on their way home today. 

Placing a sachet of food in a bowl on the floor,  Jihyun looked around, wondering where  Mousie had wondered off to. It wasn’t as if it was a big  flat she could easily get lost in. 

“ Mousie ,”  Jihyun called out quietly, but was met with silence. Honestly, that was all he really had expected. From his experiences with taking care of Elizabeth the 3 rd in the past, cats rarely came when you called for them. They did what they wanted and nothing more.

Searching the kitchen, bathroom, and living room was to no avail. Not even under the sofa, or in the cupboards he searched, just in case  Mousie had managed to open them and squeeze herself inside. That left only one room she could be in; the bedroom. 

Giving him a perfect reason to go and check on Elly,  Jihyun carefully cracked the door to the bedroom open, peering inside it to check on the sleeping form on his bed. What he saw was not something he expected to see. On his bed was not one sleeping being, but two.  Mousie lay curled up on top of Elly’s chest, sleeping peacefully, probably drawn to that area for its heat.

Jihyun guessed that having a sleeping cat, even though  Mousie wasn’t heavy, could not be comfortable in an area that hurt the way Elly had described it earlier. Elly’s face, scrunched up in what looked like pain or discomfort of some kind was what confirmed  Jihyun’s hypothesis.

Jihyun crept slowly into the room, so as not to wake either of the two sleeping on the bed, preparing to lift  Mousie off of Elly. As  Jihyun bent over Elly,  Mousie cracked an eye open at the movement. Before  Mousie had the chance to react further and dig her claws into Elly to anchor herself to her position,  Jihyun had scooped her up and into his arms. The cat gave him a disgruntled look, but didn’t make a sound, thankfully.

A hand had reached out, and grabbed a hold of one of  Jihyun’s arms, startling  Jihyun . He turned his gaze from the cat, to Elly, who was no longer sleeping, but sitting propped up on one elbow, holding his arm tightly, and staring at him with fearful eyes. They softened quickly, however, and her grip relaxed, her hand falling away from his arms.

“Sorry,” Elly said quietly, sitting up and putting her hands in her lap.

“Don’t be. I’m sure it was my fault by being here so suddenly. Are you okay?”  Jihyun asked, putting  Mousie down on the floor carefully. “I was trying to remove your cat from on top of you since it looked like she was hurting you. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

“No, don’t blame yourself. It wasn’t your fault. I had a bad dream. That's what caused it.” Elly’s voice was so quiet and small,  Jihyun almost struggled to hear it properly. 

“Do you want to talk about it?”  Jihyun offered. 

Elly gave him a small smile, shaking her head. “I’m not ready yet, but thanks anyway. Maybe I can take you up on the offer when I am ready?”

Jihyun smiled back at her, reaching out to tentatively hold her hand in support. “Anytime you’re ready, I’ll be here for you.” 

Elly squeezed his hand back slightly in appreciation, drawing lazy, soothing circles on the back of his hand with her thumb. It felt calming to  Jihyun in a way he had not experienced before. His heart ached for the soft, comforting touch, but his mind was telling him he didn’t deserve it. He knew his mind was right. Slowly,  Jihyun pulled his hand away from Elly, letting his fingers linger for longer than he knew he deserved. Elly frowned slightly as he moved away, but didn’t push the matter.

“How are you feeling now? Is your body any better?”  Jihyun asked.

“Yeah. Resting and relaxing normally helps it calm down. Thank you for lending me your bed for a bit,” Elly smiled at Jihyun, moving her legs out from under the covers and off the edge of the bed. Getting to her feet, she wobbled slightly, the ache in her feet worse than normal like it always was after a day spent standing on them, but it was manageable. 

A ding from both Elly’s and  Jihyun’s phones alerted them to the fact that a new chatroom had appeared. Giving each other a quick glance before logging in, they silently confirmed with each other that it was now they would try and unfurl some of the secrecy around Elly.

V has logged into the chatroom

Elly has logged into the chatroom

** Jumin ** ** Han: ** V..? and Elly? It’s nice to see the two of you.

** V:  ** It’s nice to see you too,  Jumin .

** 707: ** Elly! Please tell me you have a picture of your cat!

** 707: ** Need kitten energy to refuel to be able to catch this pesky hacker

Elly was almost ready to reply to Seven and tell him that she was unable to send pictures, when she noticed a new feature on the messenger she hadn’t seen before that allowed her to send pictures. Picking a particularly cute one of  Mousie where she had her paws pulled tightly over her head as she curled up in a ball, she pressed send.

** 707: ** Cute!!!! >.<

** Jumin ** ** Han: ** Such aesthetic beauty. The sublime curve of her spine. The shine of her fur. She is truly magnificent.

** Elly: ** Haha , thanks guys  😊

** Jumin ** ** Han:  ** Although I do greatly appreciate the picture you sent us, I doubt that is the only reason you logged in.

** Elly:  ** Yeah, you’re right. 

** Elly:  ** I was hoping I could answer some or your questions that I'm sure you have for me. I did promise I would do that.

** Elly:  ** So, what would you like to know?

** Jumin ** ** Han: ** How do you and V know each other? 

Elly froze, unsure what to say in the situation. Telling the truth that, oh yes, she had just magically appeared in  Jihyun’s flat from another dimension didn’t seem that  believeable , and Elly and  Jihyun hadn’t discussed in advance what to say,  Jihyun had just told her to go with what he would say.  Luckily, she didn’t have to think of anything, because  Jihyun was now typing away at his phone. 

** V:  ** We met at an art gallery a while back during one of my exhibitions. We lost contact for a while, but recently stumbled across one another again.

** Jumin ** ** Han:  ** And how did she get into our chatroom? She wasn’t formally invited, as far as I’m aware, or all our members would have known about her and agreed to inviting her in advance. 

** V: ** That’s because she was dragged into the RFA by the hacker. For what reason, I am unsure, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was because he has been monitoring us and pulled her here as a way to attempt to disorganize us. 

Jihyun lied very smoothly, Elly thought to herself. But, then again, maybe that last part was tinged with truth. Things seemed different in this reality.  Jihyun wasn’t living in his house like he did in the game. Here he was staying in a small flat in the city centre. It felt harder and harder to predict what was going to happen.

** V:  ** I would like you all to treat her kindly, and as fitting of the party coordinator. Give her guest recommendations. We are going to host a party. I just need some more time to set the date.

The rest of the conversation carried on cheerfully, with both  Jumin and Seven giving Elly a couple of party recommendations. Seven joked about Elly being from a parallel universe, which both Elly and  Jihyun nervously laughed off.  Jihyun made a mental reminder to tell Seven later to tone those jokes down a notch.

After saying their goodbyes in the chatroom, Elly put down her phone and smiled up at Jihyun.

“Thanks for covering for me in the messenger. You know, when I first turned up in your flat, I was sure you were going to get rid of me at once. Especially when I turned up in the RFA chatroom.”

“That would have been the  sane thing to do, wouldn’t it? However, there was something about you that made me think that I should let you stay. I don’t know, I must sound ridiculous.”

“Well, even if it may sound ridiculous, I’m happy that you thought so.” Elly chuckled slightly. “You know, I find it  kinda funny that you chose to go with meeting me in an art gallery at one of your exhibitions as the story for how we met. Wasn’t that how you met Rika as well?” 

Jihyun smiled fondly at the memory. Rika’s awestruck eyes as she gazed at his photo of the sun. “Yeah, it was.” His body suddenly tensed. “Hang on. I didn’t tell you that. How did you know that?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow~! Two updates within a month?! It must be Christmas. So, I think I shall give you all a bit of an update as to why things are so slow. As you may know there is a pandemic going on the world causing a global crisis. What you may not know is that I am a key worker; a nurse. Right now my job takes precedence in this situation, and since it's pretty exhausting right now, it leaves not a lot of time or energy for writing. 
> 
> Please bear with me though! I promise this story won't be abandoned. I have even managed to actually do some planning for once, and have outlined the next three chapters. So, hopefully that will help speed the process up a bit. Stay safe everyone, and do take care of yourselves in these trying times.


	7. I'll be Leaving, I'm Sorry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would you look at that! It's a chapter I've actually read through once before putting up online. It might interest you guys to know that I've actually finished outlining the remaining chapters now, so I now know what the hell I'm doing, lol

Elly’s entire body tensed up. She knew she had just let slip a detail about  Jihyun’s life he had not yet told her. She hadn’t meant to let it slip like that; it had just come out. Elly knew it would all be coming out, and that  Jihyun did deserve to know, she just wished she could have found a better time to tell him, and to have prepared more.

“Let me guess, it’s part of the game you played? The one The Mediator talked about?” 

Tentatively, Elly nodded in agreement.

“How much do you know about me?”  Jihyun asked bluntly. “I know I don’t deserve to be the one asking for answers to secrets, but this is my life, my personal life. I feel like I need to know.”

Elly knew he was right. Even though she felt her throat dry up to the point her throat felt like sandpaper, Elly did her best to summon her words and talk.

“Everything,” she started out vaguely. “I know about your bad relationship with your father, I know about your mother, and how you used to paint together with her as a child, and that she encouraged you to pursue what made you happy.” Elly turned her gaze to stare down at her hands, twiddling her thumbs nervously at her next words.

“I know that Rika is the one the hurt your eyes, and that you won’t get them fixed because you blame yourself; you feel like you deserve the suffering. I also know that Rika is alive, and that she’s mentally unwell. That she’s doing some pretty insane things right now. I know that she’s hurting Saeran, Seven’s brother.”

Jihyun just sat in silence, letting Elly’s words sink in. She really knew everything, and then some. All the secrets he had worked so hard to safeguard were now known by someone he had only known for a couple of days. It should be terrifying, but why did it all feel like a burden had been lifted off his shoulders?

No, he couldn’t let himself relax now. This was the perfect opportunity he had been looking for. With this, he could push Elly away, and go back to Rika and stop he actions, and figure out what her bigger plan was. And also, she had just mentioned  Saeran . Was it true? Was he the one who was hacking the messenger perhaps? How could she hurt someone they had sworn to protect? Now he really needed to get there and stop Rika from causing more damage.

“ Jihyun , I just want you to know I’m sorry for keeping this from you. I was worried you would think I was just some weirdo and push me away. I was scared, and stupid. I know I should have been honest from the start.”

Jihyun scoffed lightly at the irony of her apologizing for keeping secrets. The puzzled look Elly gave him told him she didn’t realise the irony herself.

“You’re right. You should have been honest from the start. Do you really think I can trust you now?” 

Jihyun knew his choice of words made it look like his scoff was at the thought of trusting Elly, but maybe that was for the best. Just push her away.   
  
He almost regretted his words when Jihyun looked up and saw how Elly’s face lost all of its colour, her worried expression shattering into one of shock, and then sadness. 

“I don’t think I should stay here anymore. I need to go. You stay in this flat. It's safer here. I'll make sure someone comes around to keep you safe. Goodbye.”

Jihyun rose to his feet, heading towards the hallway to get ready to leave. As his body moved forward, his mind was telling him to stay, to be here with someone who just seemed genuinely kind and caring.  Jihyun quickly dispelled those  thoughts , telling himself that this kindness was not something he deserved, and that if he were to try and pursue it, he would only end up tainting it and turning it to darkness.

“You’re going to The Mint Eye’s headquarters, aren’t you?” Elly’s voice from behind him said. He froze only for a split second before resuming putting on his shoes, not answering Elly’s question. 

“Don’t go. Please.” Her voice quivered slightly.  Jihyun turned to face her. His eyes widened slightly, seeing her eyes filled with desperation. He almost agreed with her. Almost.

“Why not?”  Jihyun asked, turning his attention to his other shoe he slipped onto his foot. 

“From what I can tell, it’ll only end badly.  Jihyun , you could die. It would break my heart if you died.” a silent tear slipped past her eye. It trickled slowly down her cheek, making its way to the end of her chin where it hung  precariously for a few seconds before falling to the floor.

Taking a deep breath for the final push,  Jihyun straightened himself. 

“I don’t mean to be cruel, but to be honest, you don’t know me. What you know is a character in a game. I'm real. I'm physically here. The one you like is strings of code, not me.”

“That’s not true...” Elly trailed off in disbelief. It was like the only one who knew her words were accurate was  Jihyun , even though he didn’t let on. She really did know him more than he was willing to admit. More tears started to leak from her eyes as  Jihyun grabbed his jacket.

“Please, stay here where it’s safe. I’ll be off now.” As  Jihyun reached for the front door handle, a hand stopped him.  Jihyun turned to face its owner, but was instead embraced by a set of warm arms.

“Don’t go. Fine, you may not be the same person as the character in the game, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t kind, and caring, and too sweet for words. Your compassion for others is genuine, or you would have thrown me out that day I appeared by your side. You've taken care of me, when you really didn’t have to. I see, in your eyes that you blame yourself for everything that’s gone wrong, when really, it isn’t your fault. Rika is capable of making her own decisions, and she made the wrong ones. You blame yourself and feel it’s your fault that she became the way she is, and that if you had just loved her better, things would have been different. Those things aren’t things you can control and know. You shouldn’t damage yourself this way because of these things that were outside of your control.”

Jihyun could feel his own emotions swelling up. Elly was too good for him. It made his resolve stronger; put an end to Rika’s plans and make sure Elly was out of danger, and then help Elly get back to her own world safely.

“I’m sorry,”  Jihyun said softly, pulling away. “Stay here, and be safe. And please, don’t tell the other members about what you know. I don’t want to hurt them unnecessarily. I'm sure you understand.”

Elly didn’t answer her, but it was enough for  Jihyun to know his point had gotten across.

“Well then...”  Jihyun trailed off. He opened the front door, took one last look at Elly, hoping for her to utter any more words, no matter what they were. When all he was met with was silence, he walked out the door, closing it softly behind him. 

He heard Elly slump to the ground on the other side, louder sobs now wracking through her.  Jihyun just wanted to open the door once more, go in there and tell her everything was okay. He couldn’t though. His mission was too important to give up on. It needed to be done. 

Doing his best to control his own tears,  Jihyun took out his phone as he headed out of the building and on his way to Mint Eye’s headquarters. He didn’t even need to look at his screen to dial the number he knew so well. 

The phone barely rung before  Jumin was picking up on the other end. “ Jumin speaking,” The authoritative voice of his best friend said on the other side. 

“ Jumin , it’s me, V,”  Jihyun said to his friend. “Listen, I have a little favour to ask of you. I'm going away on a trip for a while, and have to leave Elly alone. Could you please check on her and have someone there to make sure she’s okay? I’m worried about this hacker business.”

“Of course, V. I’ll go there myself as soon as I can, and I’ll make sure there is a bodyguard by her side at all times.”

“Thank you,  Jumin . I know it’s a lot to ask, but I really appreciate your help.”

“Anything for my friend,”  Jumin said dismissively.

“V,” his voice had changed from his dismissive tone to a more concerned one.  Jihyun knew what was coming before the words were uttered, “Have you reconsidered my offer on the surgery at all? It would truly be a shame if you lost your sight fully.”

“No, I haven’t. I still appreciate you caring for me, but it’s not something I want to go through with at the moment.”  Jihyun could sense the disappointment from his friend across the line. 

“Very well. Please let me know if you change your mind. I will go over to your place and check on Elly as soon as my meeting is over. I hope you have a good trip.” And with that, the line went dead before  Jihyun even had a chance to say goodbye to his friend.

Jihyun knew that meant his friend was upset with him. Normally he would at least let  Jihyun say goodbye before hanging up. He felt his childhood friend slipping away from him, but unsure how to stop it. As long as everyone was safe, that would mean things were okay, Jihyun kept telling himself. 

Pocketing his phone, feeling more relieved in the knowledge his friend was going to look after Elly in his absence,  Jihyun set off on his way to Mint Eye’s headquarters, back to Rika.


	8. I'm Coming for You

Elly sat crumpled on the floor; her knees pulled tightly to her chest. The sobs were starting to quiet down now, but the tears still kept sliding down her face, tracing new paths through the countless ones that had already dried to her skin. 

Elly did her best not to think about the fact that  Jihyun had gone back to Rika, and probably his demise, but the thoughts kept invading her head anyway. She was filled with images of  Jihyun either getting shot or stabbed whilst at Magenta, and him fading away without anyone there to save him. It had hurt so much to see him die in the game, and now the chances were high she might see him actually die in real life. Elly didn’t think she could handle that.

The thoughts made Elly’s anxiety spike to the point she didn’t feel in control of her body anymore as it shook violently from all the excess adrenaline.  Mousie had sensed Elly’s distress and come up to her, curling her tail around Ely’s limbs in a way of comfort. Elly did her best to try and focus herself on the fluffball in front of her, trying to distract her thoughts.

“You know what? Fuck you,  you absolute arsehole,” Elly said into the air, hoping The Mediator was around to hear her words. “All your talk of us getting to know each other for this to happen?! Why the fuck would you do this?! And why to him...?” Elly said the last part in a quiet voice, barely above a whisper as she thought of  Jihyun and all he’d been through. “He deserves none of this, and you had the power to change things. So why didn’t you?”

Before  The Mediator even had a chance to answer Elly, there was a knock at the front door. Getting to her feet quickly scared  Mousie off, but that didn’t matter, because maybe  Jihyun had come back, and realised it was a stupid idea to go off to Mint Eye’s headquarters on his own. 

When she opened the door, it was  Jumin standing there, not  Jihyun . Elly felt her heart sink slightly before wordlessly stepping aside to allow  Jumin entrance. Taking a step forwards,  Jumin crossed the threshold. 

Rooting around in his pocket,  Jumin pulled out a handkerchief, which he handed over to Elly. 

“Are you okay?” He finally asked, as Elly wiped away the tears from her face. 

Okay? No, she was not okay. Not in the slightest. But how was she supposed to tell  Jumin that? Hey, I know your best friend has been acting weird since his fiancée died, but actually she’s not dead. She just founded her own cult and is currently torturing people because she thinks that will save them. Your friend is currently at said cult trying to save Rika, but doesn’t know how because everything has spiralled way out of control. 

The pause was too long to play off now. Even if Elly lied and said she was fine, there was no way Jumin would believe her. 

“No, I’m not. I’m worried about Jihyun.” 

“Why? He’s just gone out on a trip. He does this now and again for his job.” Elly could tell Jumin didn’t believe Jihyun’s excuse for disappearing and was just fishing for the truth. But what could she say? This was something  Jihyun needed to say, not her. 

“Where he’s gone... it’s a dangerous place. I’m worried that something’s going to happen.”

“What makes you think that?”  Jumin’s piercing eyes stared right at Elly, hoping for her body language to betray something. 

Elly paused, not sure how to explain without revealing too much. “It’s... not my place to say.”

“Let me guess, it’s related to V’s secrets?” Wordlessly, Elly nodded.

“I understand. I won’t pry any further. What I will say though is that if V says that it’s a dangerous situation, and he didn’t want you following, I'd advise you to respect his wishes on the matter. He’s a caring person and wouldn’t forgive himself for being the reason someone else is in danger.”

Yet again, Elly just nodded, even though she didn’t agree with Jumin’s words. Yes, he probably would blame himself, but better that than him ending up dead. To herself, Elly made the promise that she would go after Jihyun and save him from the fate he was dooming himself to. 

Jumin didn’t stay long. He had only come over in the small gap in his schedule to make sure Elly was okay and access the situation, and once that was finished, he had left to go back to work, leaving behind a swarm of bodyguards. 

Although they were annoying to deal with, and felt constantly in the way, Elly understood why they were there. The first texts from the hacker were already enough to put her on edge, and the second one she had received just before  Jumin left was even more unnerving.

_ “I see that V has finally left you out of his sight. How wonderful. Maybe I should come and get you soon then? And bring you to paradise. You can work for me as my assistant once we’ve removed all your pain and suffering.” _

Just the thought of the text sent a shiver down Elly’s spine. From the tone, it didn’t sound like Ray speaking. More likely, it was  Saeran , which meant things could get dangerous.

As annoying as they were, perhaps the bodyguards weren’t so bad after all right now. As long as she could give them the slip when she was ready to leave.

The days were dragging on as Elly looked around the flat hoping to find some clues as to where Mint Eye’s headquarters were. She still talked to the RFA, keeping up her job of talking to the potential guests that were suggested to her. Who knew Seven actually would invite a real ocean to the party? Then again, this was Seven they were talking about, so anything was possible. 

After some back and  forth’s with Zen’s  fanclub , Elly put her phone down, deciding to try once more to find some information. 

As she waltzed into the living room, she saw two of the bodyguards sitting on the sofa, watching TV. Smiling, she walked up to the coffee table in front of them, and opened the drawer to it. 

Bingo. It was  Jihyun’s laptop. Hopefully, there would be something telling on it. Opening it, she only had a short moment to worry about entering a password, before it unlocked without prompting her for one. 

‘ _ Cute,’  _ Elly thought to herself, smiling faintly. It was so fitting for  Jihyun to not understand technology, and to be so innocent as to not understand the need to put a lock on his computer. 

“Your computer’s not password protected?” one of the bodyguards asked Elly.

“Huh? Oh, no. It isn’t.”

“You should really consider putting one on, in case someone tries to steal information from you in a break in.”

“Yes, you’re right. I’ll be sure to put one on soon.” ‘ _ I’ll be sure to tell  _ _ Jihyun _ _ to put one on soon, more like.’ _

Slinking off to the bedroom for some more privacy, Elly started to go through the folders that were on the computer. The first few were pictures the  Jihyun had taken for work. They were captivating, ranging from sunsets on cliffsides, to flowers casting magnificent shadows. All of them were centred around the light in the sky, and all of them captured it in their own stunning way.

Closing that folder down, Elly opened the next one, which seemed more promising. In it, was an application without a name. Cautiously, Elly opened it. When it started running, it revealed satellite images. The pictures were centred on the same place  Jihyun had been looking at last time he’d logged in; Mint Eye’s headquarters. 

Grabbing a pen and paper, Elly took note of the coordinates, before closing down everything down and returning the computer to the place she had found it. Now, all she needed to do was give the guards the slip so she could go to Mint Eye herself and save Jihyun.

As dinnertime came around, Elly had an idea on how to slip away unnoticed. 

“I’ll cook for you guys today!” Elly exclaimed cheerily to the bodyguards watching over her. 

They all gave her sceptical looks, clearly feeling like she was up to something. 

“Is there any particular reason as to why you want to cook for us all of a sudden?” one of them asked. 

“I’m so bored. There’s nothing to do here, and you guys won’t let me go outside. It’s the only thing to do here. Besides, I’m getting rather sick of take away. Aren’t you?”   


The bodyguards couldn’t disagree with her there, after more or less only living off of pizza and Chinese food for the past few days. 

With a spring in her step, Elly made her way to the kitchen and started preparing the meal. After chopping some vegetables, she poured some oil into a pan and started to heat it up. Now was her chance. 

Going over to the cupboard she knew  Jihyun kept his matches, she took them out. Elly hesitated only momentarily before lighting one of them and throwing it into the oil. The pan was quickly engulfed in flames. 

“Help! There’s a fire!” She called to the bodyguards,  quiockly hiding the matched from their sight. They came running into the room just before the smoke alarm started blaring. 

“Shit,” one of them muttered, trying to beat the flames back with a kitchen towel. It didn’t put out the flames, and only resulted in more fire, now on the piece of cloth in his hands. 

In the midst of all the chaos, Elly quietly left the flat. Making her way out of the building, she kept glancing back to make sure she wasn’t followed. Luckily, her distraction had proved to be quite effective.

Glancing down at her phone, Elly put in the coordinates so that she could plan a route to get to Mint Eye’s headquarters. Without a car, it might be rather difficult, but she couldn’t give up now, not when  Jihyun needed her. 

As the address was set in her phone, Elly looked up, trying to find the closest bus stop to begin her journey. Before she had the chance to get her bearings, the world went dark as something covered her eyes. Her mouth was quickly covered too before she had a chance to scream for help. She couldn’t move, her attacker, or attackers, had her at their mercy. 

“I told you I would come and get you, now, didn’t I?” the unstable voice of Unknown whispered too close for comfort directly into her ear. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning, the next few chapters is where the mature rating will kick in for violence and abuse.


	9. Welcome to Mint Eye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've updated the tags for this chapter, so please read them before continuing. If you think something will be triggering for you, then don't read this. One's well-being should always be the top priority.

The ride was in the car was a long one. It felt even longer to Elly now that she couldn’t see the world around her. Her hands were tied in front of her, preventing her from fighting back and escaping easily. 

A hand played with her hair, causing even more panic to rise within Elly. It would tug harshly now and then, not letting Elly put her guard down for one second. The contrast of gentle and harshness reminded Elly of her time with Daniel, and if there was  anything she didn’t need right at that time was more thoughts that just made her want to throw up.

The stress was taking its toll. Elly’s body protested to the stress and started aching painfully. It got harder to breathe, and she felt the sweat start to pool on her forehead. The hand moved from her hair to her forehead and lightly wiped away the perspiration there. All of it just made Elly want to throw up all over again.

Trying to push those thoughts away, Elly did her best to focus on the positive thing about this situation; she was at least going to be in the same place as  Jihyun was. That was a good start. When she was there, she could figure out a way to escape and take  Jihyun with her. The two of them had done it before in the game, so now shouldn’t be impossible either. 

The hand harshly grabbed Elly’s jaw, turning her head to face in the direction of its owner. 

“I’ve been looking forward to this for a while now. You really are very pretty,” a second hand slid its way down Elly’s side, making her skin crawl. “All of us at Mint Eye have worked hard on a special ceremony for your arrival. I made you a special elixir myself.”

Elly’s body started to tremble all over again. No, it couldn’t be... She hadn’t been forced to go through the ceremony last time, so why now? That elixir... That would mean she would be at their mercy even more than she already was; easy for them to manipulate in any way they wanted. Fuck, she had truly messed things up this time. Maybe Jihyun was right and it would have been better for her to stay where it was safe.

No, no way.  Jihyun needed Elly more than ever now. Elly would just have to find a way to avoid taking the elixir. She had managed to avoid taking it in the game before, so now she would just have to do that again, Elly tried to convince herself, fighting against the fact that the game was already predetermined and this was all real, and anything could happen. 

Once the car stopped, Ely heard doors open and close around her just before the door next to her was opened, and she was roughly pulled out of the car. 

“Come on!” Unknown’s, or as he was actually called, Saeran’s annoyed voice said to her, guiding her onwards. Elly felt like she was going to trip at any moment, unsure of what was beneath her feet with every step. The cobbled ground under her feet was uneven, so she stumbled at times, but luckily never fell over.

“Steps,” Was the only warning Elly got before the two of them started their ascent into the building in front of them. There weren’t many steps, about ten or so, but it took a while for Elly to climb them. All the stress, anxiety, and pain coursing through Elly’s body made the climb difficult, but they got there in the end. 

Saerna had lost the little patience he’d had to begin with, and once Elly was up the stairs, he jerked her forwards in a quicker pace, dragging her through the corridors inside until they reached their destination. 

Saeran pushed her down until she was kneeling on the carpeted floor below her. The blindfold was ripped from her head, causing Elly to reflexively shut her eyes against the bright light of the room. As she slowly adjusted to the change in brightness, Elly blinked her eyes open. 

The room was big, but it felt tiny with the huge crowd that filled it. It looked like all the cult members had gathered together, with every single one of Mint Eye’s believers was in attendance for her entrance ceremony. There was no way she would be able to flee with everyone here, solely focused on her. 

In the middle of the crowd, sitting on a throne that was slightly elevated above the rest of the ground was a woman with long, flowing blonde curls, piercing green eyes, a charming smile, and a body language that was impossible to read. It was Rika.

“So, this is RFA’s newest member, and V’s new ‘friend’. So nice of you to join us,” Rika said, getting to her feet. Slowly, she sauntered her way over to where Elly was kneeling with her hands still bound in front of her. Elly couldn’t think of any time before she had felt this vulnerable, and then it clicked. 

_ Daniel had tied her up to the bed, making sure to remove her clothes before doing so. Elly was trembling slightly, thinking it was just from the cold of not having her clothes. Slowly, Daniel’s hands were trailing down her sides. _

_ “Heh,” Elly laughed nervously, “this isn’t fun anymore, Daniel. Can you untie me now?” _

_ Daniel stopped his movements, and sat back, pondering her request for a bit. “Hmmm? But you’re so beautiful like this. You know how you just drive me insane. I can’t control myself in your presence.” _

_ Elly turned her head to the side as Daniel continued touching her, feeling a blush creep onto her face. It was so rare for her to hear her boyfriend call her beautiful. It made her feel conflicted. She knew Daniel wanted this, and if she said no now, it would definitely put him in a bad mood, and that was definitely something she wanted to avoid. Elly still had the bruises from  _ _ left from _ _ the time she’d done that. _

_ Elly didn’t speak another word, and let Daniel do whatever he wanted to her instead. It would be over much more easily this way anyway. _

Elly felt herself gasping for breath, a painful tightness pulling at her chest. No, there was no way that was a memory. That can’t have been. There was no way she’d forget something like that, right?

But then why did it feel so real?

No. No. No, no, no, no,  nonononononononono NO! Why would she have left him just do that to her? And why had him complimenting her made her so pliant? Elly wanted to throw up again, the violent nausea pulling at her stomach’s contents. 

Voices? There were definitely voices, and they were talking above her. Oh right, she was in a dire situation right here right now. She needed to be thinking straight, and not get lost in her thoughts. 

Getting her emotions under control as best she could, and doing her absolute best not to dwell on her newly resurfaced memories, Elly lifted her head to see Rika in front of her. There was a knowing look on her face.

“You’re in pain, I see that. No worries. We will remove it from you. You won’t have to suffer any longer.  Saeran , give me the elixir.”

Rika stretched out her hand, waiting for  Saeran to approach and give her the bottle of the blue liquid. Elly’s mind raced. She needed to get out of the situation right now.  Saeran was handing over the bottle to Rika, who accepted it and started to remove the stopper.

“Wait!” Elly called out desperately. Rika paused in her motions, a confused look on her face.

“I’m allergic to certain types of medications,” Elly quickly lied. “What does that contain? I won’t take it unless I know.”

Rika pulled back momentarily, a frown forming on her face. 

“Lies. All lies! And even if they’re not, we have doctors to take care of you in that case. Don’t you want to be happy? I see how much your past torments you on your face.”

“Please, no. I don’t want it.”

“You just don’t know what’s good for you. But that’s okay, because I do. You two,” Rika said, waving to two of the people standing behind Elly, “hold her still.”

Elly tried to struggle, but the two people holding her in place were strong. She resisted as her head was pulled back and her jaw forced open, but Elly knew she was defeated as soon as the blue liquid trickled down her throat. Elly had no choice but to swallow as the elixir kept coming. Tears rolled down her cheeks.

Once Rika stopped pouring, Elly felt utterly broken. As the two people that had been holding her still let go, Elly slumped to the floor, losing all will to do anything. The elixir hadn’t taken effect yet, but it was only a matter of time now. 

A hand fisted in her hair, and pulled Elly to her feet painfully. 

“You dare slump to the ground like that when you have been graced with the presence of our saviour?! And when she was even kind enough to give you the elixir herself?! We have a lot to teach you.”

“Saeran, that’s enough. She’s new. We can’t expect her to know everything yet.” Rika’s tone cut through. It sounded scarily calm.

As  Saeran released his hold on Elly’s hair, the pain did not lessen. If anything, it only started to intensify. It was spreading, taking over her body, being more painful than what she was used to. 

“Urgh,” Elly grunted, doubling over as the pain just continued to escalate. 

Rika sighed, looking exasperated by the situation before her. “Take the newcomer to her room. Make sure she doesn’t die. I have a feeling she will be a valuable asset to us when she’s feeling better.”

Hands were on her, lifting her, and it all felt so wrong and bad, and horrible, but there was no energy left in Elly’s body to fight back. All she could do was accept it as she was carried away to her new room in Mint Eye’s headquarters.


	10. Taking your Hurt Away

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, uh, it's been a while. Sorry about that. Things have been not been going well for me since my last update. Mental health issues have been playing up really badly. At least I've been getting the help I need for it. This story will still be updated, however it's going to be more sporadic than I had originally planned due to this. Anyways, I do have a new chapter for you guys as a little bit of a seasonal present. Hope you guys enjoy!

Elly felt herself gasping for breath as she was lowered onto a bed. It hurt. It hurt so much taking that elixir. How did Saeran and the others bear it? Maybe it was worse for her due to her chronic pain she already had to deal with. That would explain why the pain wasn’t limited to only her head, which it appeared to be when she talked to Saeran in the game.

“Come in and check on her regularly, you heard what our saviour said; we don’t want her dead. Make sure the door remains locked at all times, we don’t want her escaping. I’ll be the one to personally bring her more elixir at the designated times. You're dismissed.” 

Saeran . It was definitely  Saeran’s voice that had been talking. Wasn’t he leaving with the others? Why not?

Elly creaked her eyes open a slit, hoping to find out where  Saeran was in the room. It wasn’t a difficult task as he was looming over her, smiling down at her manically. 

“My, my. I knew you would be weak, but I had no idea that you would be this weak. Look at how you’re reacting to a little bit of medicine. Your body’s barely managing. So pathetic.” Saeran practically spat the words at her.    
  
His uncaring hand grabbed Elly’s head, fingers digging into her hair and forcing her gaze to the side, as if he were inspecting every inch of her. Where his hand met her scalp, it burned. Elly cried out at the feeling, but that only spurred Saeran to dig his fingers in deeper.

“You’re such a weak, pathetic excuse for a human being. You're not even worth my time.”

“Th- then... w-why are y-you he-re?” Elly stammered as she tried to talk.

_ Slap _

Elly’s face felt like fire where Saeran hit her, senses  heightened to the extreme by the elixir. Her body jerked at the feeling, it being the tipping point of too much. Her vision was fading. 

“I’ll go when I want to go. And you’ll get no food until I decide you do...” were the last words Elly heard before her body slipped into  unconsciousness .

***

When Elly awoke, she felt both groggy and hungry. The elixir was starting to lose the intense effect it had had when she’d first taken it. Elly sat up slowly in the bed, looking around and trying to orientate herself. 

There wasn’t much that Elly recognized in the room. What she could tell was that it wasn’t the same one that Saeran had put her in in the game, and that it was a very bare room. A bed, a desk, a window, and a clock were all that occupied it. At least she could tell the time. Wait, she could do that anyways with her phone.

Elly quickly patted her pockets, searching for her phone, but nothing was there. She quickly turned them inside out, hoping against hope that it was there anyways, but to no avail. 

“Looking for this?” A voice from behind Elly asked. Snapping her head around, Elly saw Saeran leaning against the doorway, waving Elly’s phone in the air. The door to the room closed with a resounding click of the lock as Saeran stepped into the room. 

Sliding the phone into his breast pocket,  Saeran calmly walked towards Elly. “Feeling hungry yet?”  Saeran asked her. 

Elly didn’t say a word, but her stomach betrayed her. It growled loudly.  Saeran smirked, letting out a grunt of laughter at the sound. 

“I guess you want some food then. Shame I won’t give you any just yet. My saviour said to keep you alive, but she didn’t say it had to be comfortable for you.”

“You’ll have to give me something eventually if you don’t want me dead,” Elly said, doing her best not to be intimidated by Saeran. His smirk fell off his face, replaced by an angry frown. He strode quickly across the room towards Elly and harshly grabbed her jaw, digging his fingers in painfully. He tilted Elly’s head upwards to look him dead in the eye.

“Shut up! You do not decide anything here! You have no say in these matters. I decide over your weak, pathetic self, not you!”

Elly didn’t say a word in response, but that only seemed to fuel Saeran’s anger further, causing him to dig his fingers even more sharply into her jaw. It hurt, but it was nothing like the searing pain from earlier. Was the elixir already losing its effect? 

“You’ll do as you’re told, won’t you? A weak little thing like you has no idea what’s best for you anyway, isn’t that right?”

This was a test, Elly knew it. Saeran was testing to see how well the elixir was working. Even though Elly’s head felt slightly cloudy, her judgement was still with her. It was a gamble, but if she knew Saeran properly, as she thought she did, this would work.

“I know what’s best for me. Do you truly know what’s best for you? I mean, if you did, why do you need someone like your saviour around to tell you what’s for your best?” 

Fury rose in Saeran’s eyes. He threw Elly to the side harshly, so she landed painfully on the floor. “How DARE you talk to me like that?! Obviously, we need to increase the dosage of your elixir. I will talk to our saviour about it and have it raised.”

Looking Saeran right in the eyes, Elly spoke, “I don’t think you will. Something about you tells me that you don’t truly want some pliant person to push around.”

“You don’t know me! You have no idea what I want or don’t want. I’m going to our saviour immediately to have this issue fixed.” And with that, he stormed out of the room, the door’s lock sliding into place with a  resounding ‘click’ behind him as he left. 

_ ‘Shit,’  _ Elly thought to herself.  _ 'If he isn’t quite the same person I knew, I may have just made things ten times worse.’ _

Panic started setting in over what the repercussions may be. What if he came back and was even more violent than before? What if he forced her to take more of the elixir? What if he got mad at her again and hurt her like Daniel had?

_ “You’re so worthless! Why can’t you do anything correctly?” His voice reverberated around the small space of their flat, ringing in Elly’s ears as he shouted at her. “You always forget to put away the shopping! Now all the fridge stuff is probably bad!” _

_ Elly knew he was over-dramatizing it, since he’d only just gone out shopping a couple of hours ago, but it still made her feel like shit. She was always doing things incorrectly according to him. It was like nothing she did would ever be good enough. _

_ “I’m sorry, darling. I must have forgotten to do it. I’ll do it in a couple of minutes.” _

_ Daniel gave her a seething look, and Elly knew that even though she felt absolutely exhausted after having a long day at work, he wouldn’t accept the wait. Turning around, he left the room. _

_ Elly waited and listened. The tell-tale sound of rustling told Elly that Daniel was taking things out of the shopping bags. A smile spread across her face as she thought Daniel was helping her with the task. That smile disappeared quickly as the sound of a jar smashing against the floor reverberated through the flat.  _

_ Elly rose quickly to her feet and went into the kitchen to the source of the sound. There, standing in a heap of pickles and shattered glass, was Daniel, holding now a bottle of milk in his hands.  _

_ “We might as well throw the rest of the things we bought today as well if you’re not going to take care of them.” Daniel released the milk bottle, letting it fall to the floor. It cascaded everywhere, staining Elly’s feet with its contents, the glass scraping the bare skin leaving angry, red marks in  _ _ their _ _ wake. _

_ Giving in, Elly let out a deep sigh. “Fine, I’ll take care of the  _ _ shopping _ _ now.” _

_ Daniel walked across the floor, shoes on his feet, and uncaring of the pickles he trod on, mashing them to pieces and making more of a mess. _

_ “And you can clean this up as well,” Daniel said, gesturing to the floor, and leaving the room to go back to the video game he had been playing. _

Curling into a ball, hoping to shield herself from the memories, Elly laid down in the bed, trying to think of anything else.

***

“...up. Wake up. Didn’t you hear me?! I said WAKE UP!” Saeran’s loud voice caused Elly’s eyes to fly open. “Finally. Now that you’re awake, you can take your next dose of the elixir.” Saeran took out a bottle of the blue liquid Elly had been forced to take yesterday. 

“Soo,” Elly started, sitting herself up in bed, “did you get the dosage changed?”

Saeran glared at her, but didn’t say anything, confirming her suspicions from the previous day.

“Drink,” Saeran commanded, holding the bottle up to Elly’s lips. Looking directly into Saeran’s eyes, and not breaking eye contact, Elly sipped down the substance. There was pain to come with this, yes, but somehow, Elly doubted the substance affected her mind in the way Mint Eye hoped for. 

Once the bottle was empty, Saeran watched her and waited for it to take effect. There was nothing for the first few minutes, and then the pain started seeping in. Breathing got more and more painful as time went on.

“Do you know why you’re here?” Saeran started. 

“Because you kidnapped me,” Elly got out through the gasps for breath.

“Of course not. You're here because the pain of the real world is too much. V left you all on your own.”

“Lies. I know what you’re trying to do, and it won’t work. Haah, argh. Just... Just give up already.”

“We’re all here to save you here at Mint Eye. We all just want what’s best for you when you don’t  even know yourself. Elly, my sweet. Just give in and the pains of this life will fade away.”

“Give in? Give in to what. ‘Huff,’ ‘huff’. There’s nothing to give into. All the elixir does for me is cause me pain. Don't you feel the pain of it too? Doesn’t it all just hurt when you take it?” Elly looked up towards Saeran, who for a minute looked conflicted before the anger once again filled his eyes. 

“Stop focusing on me. What about you, and all your sufferings? Don’t you want  to just be free from it all?”

“Sometimes, yeah. But all the memories, good and the bad, are part of me. They've brought me to where I am, they’ve helped me grow and evolve as a person. Without all the pain and suffering of my past, I wouldn’t I wouldn’t have gotten my sweet little Mousie, and I wouldn’t have even gotten the chance to get to know Jihyun; an opportunity I treasure dearly. The things that are important to me came from my past, and even though I wouldn’t want to redo those painful times in my future, I wouldn’t change my past even if I could.”

“You’re wrong. The pain of the hurt others caused us will win over you. It's only a matter of time.” And with that, Saeran left Elly all alone once more. 

Elly rolled onto her side, concentrating on trying to relax as much as possible to lessen the pain when there came a knock on her window. Willing her body to turn over, Elly saw Jihyun looking through the glass at her, worry apparent on his face. Getting to her feet, Elly stumbled over to the window and opened it, letting Jihyun climb inside. It was ungraceful, to say the least, and just as he was almost through, Jihyun caught his foot on the ledge, and fell to the floor of Elly’s room.

“What are you doing here?” Elly asked. A sudden, more intense wave of pain wracked through her, and she too feel to the floor, clutching her chest and gasping for breath.

“Elly!” Jihyun exclaimed as he wrapped his arms around Elly’s frame before he could think about the fact that the guards outside of the door might hear him. They waited in silence, but the only thing they could hear were Elly’s laboured breaths.

“Why are you here? I told you not to come. You should have stayed where it was safe. With Jumin and the others,” Jihyun said, fingers shaking slightly as he held Elly. 

“And leave you to this place all on your own? No way. Like I told you, I know how that will end, and I refuse to let that happen.”

“But you’re getting hurt.”

“And you could die, but that didn’t seem to stop you; and don’t you dare say you would deserve to die, because that simply isn’t true.”

“Still, I can’t just ignore the fact that you’re in pain. Is there anything I can do for you?”

Elly thought for a moment. “Painkillers? And maybe some food?”

“Food? Aren’t they giving you any food here?” 

Elly shook her head. Jihyun’s body tensed up at Elly’s response. “Sure, I’ll get you some food as well then. I don’t know how much longer I can stay here, but please be safe. I-” Jihyun hesitated. “I worry about you,” He ended up saying.

“Make sure you’re safe too,” Elly said, bringing up a hand to cup Jihyun’s face, and slowly stroke his cheek.

“And Elly,” Jihyun said, lifting Elly up and placing her carefully on the bed,” I’m so sorry for how I treated you. I am not someone who should be judging you about honesty. I can see why you didn’t tell me immediately, and I really don’t hate you for that. And, even though the me you got to know was a character in a game, you still seem to know the me that’s standing here before you better than anyone else. All I wanted was to keep you safe, but now I see that my actions just caused you more pain, and for that I can never apologize enough for.” A single tear slid down Jihyun’s face as he spoke, which Elly tenderly wiped away.

“Thank you, Jihyun. You have no idea how much those words mean to me. I forgive you.”


End file.
